In the early hours of Wednesday morning, violence broke out when counter-demonstrators attacked a pro-Palestinian encampment on the University of California Los Angeles campus.
“Horrific acts of violence occurred at the encampment tonight, and we immediately called law enforcement for mutual aid support,” Mary Osako, a vice-chancellor at the university, said. “The fire department and medical personnel are on the scene. We are sickened by this senseless violence, and it must end.”
School officials announced that all classes were cancelled on Wednesday and that Powell Library and Royce Hall were closed as well.
Videos of the violence were shared online , showing people with sticks and poles attacking wooden boards being used as a makeshift barricade to protect the pro-Palestinian protesters. At least one firework was thrown into the camp.
Other videos showed people screaming as they were fist fighting, hitting each other with sticks, and grappling on the ground.
Reports from the scene indicated that law enforcement was present on campus as the violence unfolded, but failed to intervene until officers in riot gear arrived around 3 a.m.
According to the LAPD , no arrests were made.
"The limited and delayed campus law enforcement response at UCLA last night was unacceptable and it demands answers," Gov. Gavin Newsom's office said in a statement. "As soon as it became clear that state assistance was needed to support a local response, our office immediately deployed (California Highway Patrol) personnel to campus."
University of California President Michael V. Drake said he "requested a detailed accounting from the campus" about what transpired, including an independent external review of UCLA's response.
"The situation has been stabilized and UCLA Chancellor Gene Block has reiterated that, having declared the encampment unlawful yesterday, he will dismantle it at the appropriate time," Drake said.
L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, who represents the Third District, which is where UCLA is, called the violence "unacceptable” and said she was in close contact with school administrators, L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna, and L.A. County's Office of Emergency Management.
UCLA law professor Ariela Gross called the violence a "tragic development."
"Numerous students were injured, and the students repeatedly called for help from police who were present nearby, but the police failed to act for hours, and it's hard to understand exactly," she told KNX News' Charles Feldman.
Gross said many of the pro-Israel counter-demonstrators appeared to be outsiders, including teenagers and older people who were "almost certainly" not students at the university.
"One of my colleagues said that he spoke to one of these attackers who said he was an Armenian nationalist. Some of them appeared to be white supremacists, right wing, yelling 'U.S.A., U.S.A.,'" she said.
The Jewish Federation of L.A. issued a statement Wednesday morning condemning the violence, laying the blame on the UCLA administration for allowing the encampment to remain on campus in the first place.
"The abhorrent actions of a few counter-protesters last night do not represent the Jewish community or our values. We believe in peaceful, civic discourse. Unfortunately, the violence at UCLA is a result of the lack of leadership from the chancellor and the UCLA administration," the group's statement said.
The Greater L.A. Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations condemned the "mob of pro-Israel extremists" who instigated the violence, calling for the individuals responsible to be prosecuted. The group also called for an investigation into the police's "lack of response."
"If (protesters) advocating for Palestinian rights and against genocide had engaged in a fraction of the violence perpetrated by the far-right Israeli government's supporters, there would have been a national outcry," CAIR's statement said.
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